Milan superstar Andrea Pirlo has revealed that he has dreamt about winning the Ballon d’Or since he was a young child.
The playmaker is making a late surge to lift the crown after a quite stunning start to the season. The former Brescia playmaker was the best player on the pitch during the recent Euro 2008 qualifier with France and was again on top form last night as Milan beat Benfica 2-1 at San Siro.
The 28-year-old scored a trademark free-kick and set-up the second goal for Filippo Inzaghi as the Rossoneri began the defence of their Champions League title.
“Winning the Balon d’Or? I have dreamt about this since a young child,” revealed Pirlo. “It is the dream of every young boy who wants to be a footballer to win this trophy.”
Despite Pirlo’s magnificent form, his Rossoneri team-mate Kaka is still the red-h
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An Andrea Pirlo free kick and stunning team move finalised by Pippo Inzaghi gave Milan a confident 2-1 win over Benfica.
Manuel Rui Costa returned to San Siro to face his former club as captain of Benfica and was given a warm welcome by the fans, players and Coach Carlo Ancelotti. Rui Costa helped the Rossoneri to win the trophy in 2003 and they started this new campaign as holders. Ronaldo was out injured, but Pippo Inzaghi was picked as lone forward.
In the opening minutes Kaka had a shot charged down on the edge of the area, then Inzaghi just failed to redirect a wayward Massimo Ambrosini volley from Massimo Oddo's cross.
The pressure paid off on nine minutes, as Andrea Pirlo curled one of his trademark free kicks from 25 metres into the near top corner. The goalkeeper managed to
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"We started the game well, creating many chances and nearly scoring. Now, let's look ahead." Seedorf was disappointed after hitting the crossbar. - THE ROSSONERI'S DECLARATIONS –
SIENA - Here are the declarations given by the Rossoneri after Siena-Milan (1-1):
Yoann Gourcuff: "I'm not confident enough yet to be able to play here the way I do for the French national team, but slowly I am moving with more freedom when I'm close to the goal, and I am able to take more risks in the offensive moves. I am disappointed because this draw is not a good result. The Coach told us that we had to start well in the league because having a position in the league gives more serenity and self-confidence to the group. Too bad, if we had scored quickly it would have gone very differently."
Milan leave Siena with a draw: the Rossoneri, who were behind until the 90th minute, found an equaliser in injury time. It was Nesta who found the right spark with a great right-footed shot that made it 1-1. In the final minute, Seedorf hit the crossbar.
The sense that against Siena it would be a tough match, had already surfaced in the hours preceding the encounter. Andrea Mandorlini's team, still on 0 points in the standings after the matches against Sampdoria and Roma, perhaps underservedly, were very eager to get a result. The determination announced in the words found its confirmation on the pitch. Siena were a determined and gritty opponent from the first minute to the last, an attitude that earned them the first point in the standings. Milan, who were behind almost until the very end, managed to equalise
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Milan fought back for a 1-1 draw at Siena with Alessandro Nesta's volley after a truly comical Dumb & Dumber moment from Nelson Dida and Kakha Kaladze.
This was the first match played since the stadium was renamed the Stadio Artemio Franchi Arena Montepaschi, bringing in the name of the club sponsor.
The Rossoneri were preparing for their Champions League opener with Benfica, so left Kaka, Andrea Pirlo, Massimo Oddo and the injured Ronaldo behind, giving Emerson his first start for the club. Last season this fixture ended 4-3 for the visitors and Siena feared a repeat, as they had lost both their Serie A games so far this term with one goal in favour and five against. Argentine defender Leandro Grimi got to face the club that still owns his contract.
Milan were clearly in a hurry to secure the points and almost scored after 24 seconds when Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos parried an Alberto Gilardino left-foot volley set up by Emerson.
From the resulting corner kick, Clarence
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MILAN - Siena-Milan will be shown live in America and in a few Asian countries through the website SerieA.tv. The site, produced by Infront Sports, will broadcast Milan's league matches live as well as the 2007-2008 Serie A, with the transmission visible exclusively in America (North, Central, and South) and a few Asian countries.
